"Tiny Diamonds Are Great Because You Know What? No One Will Ever Try to Steal It!" (Or: Has Anyone Insulted Your Engagement Ring?)

I was watching an old episode of Grey's Anatomy the other day, the one where George and Callie elope in Vegas like two days after George's dad died. Izzy did the obligatory, "Well let me see the ring!" So Callie put out her hand, and Izzy pulled it closer, and closer, and ooooonce more closer, before squinting and announcing with a fake smile, "Tiny diamonds are great because you know what? No one will ever try to steal it." Ouch.

"My boyfriend had a ring made for me with an antique ring and a stone he inherited from his family. When I would tell people that tidbit, they'd be all fascinated and ask to see my ring, which must be far more simple than they imagined. Usually I get a tight smile and a 'Well now. That's pretty.'" —Mandy

"The first words out of my mother's mouth: 'It's so small! But, um, sparkly!'" —Angela

"Mine gets called 'dainty' all the time." —Reba

"I got my girlfriend an Art Deco-inspired ring with diamond chips in the design. One of her older co-workers looked at it and asked, 'Does your husband ever plan on buying you a real ring?' We were both pissed." —Matt

"My mom insisted my nontraditional engagement ring didn't look like an engagement ring, and thus offered to have a proper one made for me. Meanwhile my grandmother went through a whole afternoon lunch listening to family toasts to my future with Michael, and then when someone said the word 'wedding' she asked, 'Who's getting married?' My ring apparently didn't convey 'getting married' to her. (The latter part, in retrospect, I have to admit is hilarious.)" —Lexi

"My husband designed my engagement ring around a gorgeous 2 carat hand-cut diamond from the 1800s, which his grandmother really wanted us to have so we would keep it in the family. A few weeks after we got engaged I met a friend for drinks. When she was telling her boyfriend about our engagement, she used the phrase 'hand-me-down' ring. Tactless AND inaccurate! (The stone was vintage but the ring was new!)" —Coraline

"I have a three-layer micro-pave band. People in the young, editorial and/or taste-maker-y style-y worlds I subscribe to are absolutely in love with it all the time. If my ring had a Facebook page, it would have a lot of fans. BUT in the world of my parents' synagogue-y old-Jewy boomer generation peeps, I think some ladies-who-lunch were confused. One actually asked, 'But where's THE DIAMOND?' OYYY." —Sarah

"Someone said, "Well this is just to hold you over until you can get something nicer." —Zoe

Has anyone insulted your engagement ring? What was the dig and who said it?

When a single guy acquaintance of ours first saw my ring, probably five years ago, he asked Rory, "You didn't want to go a little bigger?" My death glare ended that discussion. My center stone is more than a carat and a half! That's more than enough diamond for me. Meanwhile, the acquaintance just bought an engagement ring for his girlfriend, and guess what? The center stone is the exact same size as mine! I SO want to ask, "What, you didn't want to go a little bigger?" But if he has no recollection of the original conversation, I'll look like a total a-hole.